CEDA
by footshooter
Summary: The L4D2 team made it to CEDA, but they're not as safe as they thought... Bit of a rubbish summary there, LOL. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

Ellis stood under the spray of the shower and sighed happily. It felt good getting all of the grime off his body, even if the soap did smell like antiseptic; but to be fair, everything in the CEDA evac centre did. Ellis squirted some shampoo into his palm and went to run his hands through his hair, the CEDA metal wristband cutting into his arm as he did. He frowned at it and its little red logo, before shaking it up to his wrist and continuing with his hair. After fighting his way through the hordes, the specials, being pummelled by Tanks and Chargers, spat at, dragged off, pounced upon, and upsetting those crazy bitches so no one else would have to, to get here – he couldn't help but smile. Even the needle prodding and tests they went through when they entered the facility, and having their stuff confiscated (he missed his hat) he was happy. They had all made it. They were all safe.

He sauntered over to Rochelle in the canteen. She was eating pasta and looked like she was in heaven. He laughed to himself as he sat down, staring down at the table so she had to squint her eyes to be able to recognise him.

"My God, Ellis! You scrub up well."

He blushed, "Thank you, ma'am."

She smiled and continued to wolf down the pasta.

"Hey, I ain't never seen a woman eat like that! You're on par with me, girl," Coach said, sitting down beside her, and she swallowed before sticking out her tongue at him.

"I'm hungry, 'k?"

Coach shrugged, "Never did say there was anything wrong with it."

"Hey! You're red too!" Ellis said, after glancing at Rochelle's wrist and she smiled around a mouthful of food.

"What about you, Coach?" Ellis asked, and his face positively lit up when he noticed the red band around Coach's wrist too.

"MAN! We're gonna be together after all! Aw, I dunno what I'd do now without y'all. This is gonna be awesome!"

He jumped to his feet to everyone's surprise.

"I'm starving, are there burgers? Man, I could really do with a McDonald's right about now. I'll be back with ya in a second." He turned around, then spun back to face them.

"Anyone seen Nick?"  
>The other two shook their heads.<p>

"I think he were putting up a bit of a fight abou' his jacket and the blood tests. I'm sure he'll be right here with us pretty soon. Oh man, no more zombies. This is like… wow. Weird y'know. But maybe a good weird. Although, I dunno. I guess the almost dyin' stuff did sorta suck but then again I did kinda like the whole shootin'. It was like bein' in a videogame or somethin'. But still. I guess we're safe now so that's gotta be a good thing."

He flashed them a smile, and then practically ran off towards the food, leaving his acquired family to shake their heads and smile after him.

Ellis had piled his plate with everything he could find, and was just making sure he hadn't missed anything when Nick appeared from no where beside him.

"Hey kid."

Ellis jumped and nearly spat a mouthful of chewed chip at Nick, who grimaced slightly.

"What the fuck man? Where'd you come from?"

"That door over there…"

Ellis turned round, and nodded.

"That'd make sense."

They were all wearing pretty much the same thing; CEDA approved grey tracksuit bottoms and black tops, with black trainers. They'd given them black vests and grey shorts in the same material as the tracksuit bottoms, but the facility was sterile and medical, and even though it wasn't exactly uncomfortable, it was cold. Nick looked disgusted at their choice of attire. He missed his jacket.

"Hey, Rochelle didn' even recognise me at first y'know. It's weird how we all know each other so well now, but find it difficult when we're wearin' different clothes."

His face fell slightly.

"Reckon they're gonna give us our stuff back? I miss my hat."

"You need to let your head breathe sometimes, Overalls. And anyway, your hair should be enough to keep that head of yours warm."

"Do heads breathe?"

Nick smiled and ruffled Ellis' hair, "What the hell's this?"  
>"Man, I ain't had a haircut in a while, k? And anyways, you can't call me Overalls when I ain't got my <em>coveralls <em>anymore, can yeh?"  
>"They weren't overalls in the first place… so yeah, I can."<p>

Ellis tried to think of a response but couldn't, so ate another chip. Nick took one from the plate and popped it in his mouth.

"Hey man! Get yer own! There's more than enough to go round!"  
>"Ahh, there is on your plate! You've got enough for about 4 people anyway."<br>"I'm hungry."

Nick watched as a CEDA official in protective clothing walked past, and then put his hand on Ellis' arm and leaned in closer.

"I need to talk to you. All of you."  
>Ellis' brow wrinkled, and then his face lit up.<p>

"MAN! You're red too!"  
>Nick looked at the cuff around his arm, and his lip curled.<p>

"That's what we need to discuss."

Ellis led the way to Rochelle and Coach and sat down, Nick beside him.

"Nick!" Rochelle said, smiling. "You not eating?"  
>"We decided Ellis has enough for both of us."<br>Ellis scowled, "Naw, you decided that."  
>"Whatever."<br>"You two looked pretty close back there," Rochelle said, smirking, and both men glanced at each other and looked horrified.

"Not like that…"  
>"Hell naw! Nick has somethin' t'tell us."<br>"Keep your fucking voice down, man."  
>"Sorry."<p>

"Gobshite."  
>"Alright, I said sorry didn' I? Christ almighty…"<p>

"What's up, Nick?" Rochelle asked, before the bickering reached a pitch where they would actually forget what Nick had to say anyway.

Nick turned away from Ellis, shaking his head, and leaned forwards so he could be heard even with his voice lowered.

"You noticed the wristcuffs?"

"Cuffs?" Ellis said, "Well, yeah, but I just thought they were like… shipping orders."  
>"Well, they kind of are. But they mean something else."<br>"How do you know this, Nick?" Rochelle asked, concerned.  
>"I did some digging."<p>

She frowned, "Nothing that could get you in trouble?" 

Nick laughed, "We're already in trouble."


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone had stopped eating and was staring at Nick. He looked around,

"Hey, act a bit more natural will you?"

They all looked around and then started eating again, just picking at their food, but it was enough.

"What you found, boy?" Coach asked, and Nick's face darkened.

"The people sitting with the blue; like your friend over there Ellis…" He directed his gaze towards Zoey, who was blanking the group and was flirting with Francis like her life depended on it, "They're immune. They're fine, CEDA likes them."

Ellis nodded, his usual smile turning into a slight pout. Rochelle put her hand over his and smiled at him, which he half-heartedly returned, and then took a sip of his coke, swallowing hard.

"The CEDA guys, they're either blue or yellow. The yellow, they're not immune. They're the guys that, left outside in the big bad world we've come from would be zombies by now."

Coach glanced at the yellow armband around a patrolling CEDA official's uniform.

"Guess that explains the suits, ey?" Rochelle said, and Nick nodded.

Ellis gulped, "An' what abou' us? You didn' mention red."

Nick smiled but it was bitter and… sad, almost, as he looked at the group around him who he'd become to call his family. Even though they got on his nerves, and he _preferred _to be on his own, he'd die to protect these guys. He almost had, more than once. And each and every one of them had for him. He snorted,

"We're red. We're dangerous. We're carriers."

No one spoke. Rochelle lowered her fork, Coach's eyes widened, and Ellis paled.

"But, ain't carriers the ones that CEDA were… murderin'? The piles o'bodies we saw?" he whispered, and Nick nodded.

"We're first shipment out. Well, I say shipment. They'll take us outside, line us up against that wall and shoot us in the head to save themselves."

Coach had his head in his hands, and Rochelle's eyes had become glossy.

"But… we made it… all the way here," she said, her voice thick, and Ellis shook his head.

"They can't do this to us. They just can't. It ain't like we're gonna fuckin' bite the or nothin'!"

Nick shook his head, "Do you think I'm gonna let them?" He looked around at his group, all staring at anything but each other. "Hey!"

That got their attention.

"We made it this far. I'm not letting these bastards take it away from us."

Rochelle and Ellis looked down at the table in silence. Ellis shrugged but Coach nodded, "I agree wi' Nick. What're we gonna do?"


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour later Nick was dragging Ellis along a corridor by his ear, wearing a full CEDA protective suit, complete with yellow arm-band.

"Hey?" an official asked as he walked past. "What's going on?"

Nick stopped and shook his head, "This little bastard's been a pain in the arse. I'm taking him to isolation for a while."

The official's eyes dropped down to Ellis' wrist, and he nodded. Nick kept on walking.

"That were close," Ellis said.

"Shut it Ellis," Nick muttered. "We're not outta the woods yet."  
>"Sorry."<p>

They continued along the corridor until they reached the door at the end. Ellis tried the handle, but it was locked.

"What're we gonna do now?"  
>Nick smirked and pulled out a swipe card, which he placed in the sensor causing the door to swing open. Ellis looked slightly awestruck.<p>

"Where the hell'd ya get that?"  
>Nick rolled his eyes, "Business, Ellis. Business."<p>

The door swung open and they stepped inside, closing it behind them. Nick scanned the locker doors until he reached the one labelled "978", which he opened. Inside was everything CEDA had confiscated, disinfected and put away in storage bags.

"Alright!" Ellis said, pulling out his shotgun and axe, and strapping them to his back. "Aw, I've missed mah babies!"

He grabbed the ammo as Nick took his machine gun and pistols, and threw Rochelle's gun and crowbar at him. "You carry these too."

Ellis nodded, still looking like a kid at Christmas as Nick strapped Coach's stuff to his back and pocketed a knife.

"Ready?" He asked Ellis, and Ellis nodded. Nick took one last look in the locker underneath the soiled clothing and smiled, maybe their clothes were damaged beyond repair, but there was still one last thing…

"Hey Overalls?"

"Yeah?" Ellis said as he peered through the window in the door to make sure their route was still clear.

He felt a pressure on his head, and put his hand up to feel the brim of a cap. His smile widened when he pulled it off his head to see the familiar logo and he spun towards Nick, before trying to go in for a hug.

Nick stepped back to arms length, but smiled nonetheless "Save the bromance, kid. It's just a hat."

Ellis laughed and shook his head, "Thanks man."  
>"No problem."<p>

Nick picked up his jacket – just because, and opened the door.

"Come on then!"


	4. Chapter 4

Ellis went down first. Rochelle has been grabbed by a Smoker, and he'd released her, but she was surrounded by too many zombies to fight while already weakened by the special infected.

It was a stupid move, Nick had thought as he half-carried Ellis towards the evac centre. Brave, but stupid.

He had fired into the horde without thinking, hearing Rochelle's screams rather than the crying. When the witch screamed, Ellis had started to back away – his aim solely directed towards the platinum blond figure hurtling towards him. He'd swore loudly as the horde turned its attention towards the Witch and his shooting.

Nick was busy, Rochelle was dazed, Coach was using a chainsaw. They were all distracted. But Nick can remember the noise he made when the Witch caught up to him and started hacking at his flesh. Because he hadn't yelled, or screamed, or anything like that really.

He had squeaked.

Nick had, at that point, battered the zombies off himself and sprinted towards Ellis, who was by that point screaming as the claws sliced his chest. He emptied a clip into the Witch before her body went limp and collapsed on to Ellis.

Zombie brain exploded across the side of Nick's head, and Ellis cracked a smile. Nick extended a hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Y'alright kid?"  
>Ellis winced, blood trickling through his shirt and down his chest, "Just a flesh wound."<p>

He cocked his shotgun and began to reload, occasionally pausing to swing an axe at an approaching zombie that Nick wasn't machine gunning down.

They had rejoined with the other two in time for Coach to be pounced by a Hunter, that Rochelle elbowed in the face before Coach shot it with his pistol from the floor. They had dragged him to his feet, before hearing another horde scream, and Ellis had bellowed, "JUST KEEP MOVING!"

He had replaced the shotgun with the axe full time with no time to reload, and was trying to hack his way through the sea of bodies via different means. But he was injured, and Nick wasn't sure how long his strength was going to hold up. The kid had surprised him before, though.

The sound of gunfire was deafening, and the horde was unrelenting, and they were flagging. A flicker of doubt passed through his eyes as he caught Ellis' expression, the gritted teeth, the sweat and the exhaustion. Ellis had shook his head and muttered, "no", before attacking the horde with more vigour.

Nick remembered looking round at the piles of bullet-ridden corpses and dismembered limbs and being completely astounded that they'd made it. Ellis was standing beside him with one hand on the brim of his hat, the other loosely holding his axe, wide-eyed and covered in a mixture of his own and massacred infected blood. Rochelle was panting; clutching her pistol like her life depended on it. Coach was holding his arm, which was bleeding out badly, his teeth gritted. They were all staring at the carnage around them, just like him.

He remembered letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, and wiped the sweat off his brow, glancing sideways at Ellis. Ellis glanced back, half-smiling, and let out a nervous giggle. Nick held up a hand, and the high-fived, the noise echoing through the street.

An almighty roar echoed back at them, and all of their eyes widened in horror, their muscles tensing and their hands gripping their weapons, raising them. Ellis swung his axe over his shoulder and grabbed the shotgun, cocking the barrel and hastily shoving in 10 rounds. Rochelle checked her larger weapon and had shouted "shit!" when she realised it was empty. Coach lifted the machine gun, the chainsaw having ran out of petrol and been discarded long back. Nick had gulped, and shouldered his AK-47, pointing it towards the noise.

A car flew through the air and landed metres away from them, slightly to the left. Shrapnel from the wreck exploded into the air and lodged in their skin. Another growl echoed through the street towards them, and they took their stances.

The Tank had crushed a car as it bowled towards them, all pink and veiny and over-sized muscles, like it was on steroids.

"FIRE'S COMIN'!" Ellis had shouted, and he'd lobbed a Molotov, hitting the Tank square in its chest, knocking it back slightly and causing it to bellow in pain.

It would kill it quicker, but it made it more angry.

It had pulled up concrete from the ground and lobbed it towards them. It had barged forwards, a huge, swollen, rage-filled creature, and started pounding into the ground. The heat from the fire made sweat erupt to their skin and the smell of burning flesh filled their nostrils and made them cough, fighting back the nausea. The ground shook and the noises it was making made their ears feel as pressurised as the close-range gunfire, as they did their best to be quicker than the fists pounding into the ground. Ellis was knocked back as he attempted to shoot it in the back of the head when it went for Rochelle. Nick yelled to try and distract it from pounding him into the ground.

It turned on Nick with a roar and was just about to smack him when it stopped moving and fell forwards. Nick hopped out of the way just in time, and the ground shook again as it hit the floor. He had turned to stare at the charred, blackened corpse, the fire on its body fading out and Ellis' axe sticking out of the back of its neck.

He had yanked out the axe and pulled Ellis to his feet, Rochelle helping Coach – who'd been hit by a lump of concrete and was slightly dazed.

They'd limped to the evac centre, it taking twice the time due to the injuries. They'd taken them in, stripped them off, split them up and sat them down in a shipping container to poke at them wearing full bodied suits like the fire-proof zombies before they even thought to clean them up and dress their wounds. They had then taken their clothes and weapons and fitted them with wristbands before letting them go. They'd all caught maybe an hour's sleep in the meantime, but their dreams were full of infected and chases and pain.

And now this.


	5. Chapter 5

They padded through the halls as quietly as they could, stopping when they heard footsteps ahead and looking round corners before continuing. They had almost made it to where they were meeting Rochelle and Coach when they came across a CEDA official, who stopped dead in front of them, mouth open.

"…What?"

Nick rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you know what it cost us to get here?"  
>"Well… I…"<br>"Were you actually out there, in the streets, or have you been cosying up here the whole time?"

"I…"

Ellis frowned, "You've been killin' people man, an' that just ain't nice."

Ellis backed up his point by swinging the axe in his hand slightly.

"We… We have to prevent the infection from spreading…"

Nick walked right up to the man, and glared at him.

"You have NO idea how hard it was for us out there. You have no idea how many time's I've been spat at, bitten, scratched, fucking pounded into the ground, kicked, punched and **you** want to KILL ME?"

"We have no choice."  
>"Just let us go, man."<p>

"I… can't."

The official staggered backwards a couple of steps and pressed a button on the wall. Ellis and Nick looked at each other, and the officials face fell when nothing happened.

"Nice one," Nick said, patting Ellis on the back and Ellis smirked.

"It were nothing. Not so different from a car. This one time, me and Keith got this car in with an adapted alarm and it was going off and…"  
>Nick turned to Ellis, pulling a knife out of his pocket and cocked his head.<p>

"Ellis, is now really the time?"  
>"Probably not… sorry."<p>

The official eyed the knife fearfully.

"And what are you planning to do with that?"

Nick smirked.

"You… you gonna kill me? Because… what will that achieve?"

Nick laughed, "No. I'm not going to use this on you."

He put the knife to his hand and cut it slightly before watching the blood erupt to the surface. Ellis looked at the yellow wristband.

"Man, we don' really wanna have to do this, coz I mean, fightin' off zombies all the time is kinda tirin', but y'know what'll happen if we do?"

Nick took a step forward, and the man in front of them looked from Ellis, to the axe, to Nick, to the blood in his hand before stepping to the side.

"Atta boy," Nick said. "And no cries for help either. Or I'll send my boy here back with his axe."

They continued on their way.


	6. Chapter 6

When they reached Rochelle and Coach they handed over their weapons and they seemed as happy as Ellis and Nick had been to get their protection back.

"Man, I didn' realise how weird it was without these!" Coach said, cocking his gun and loading it up, checking the sights.

Rochelle smiled, "God, I know." She tossed the crowbar up slightly and smiled when it came to rest in her palm.

"We really gonna do this?"

Nick nodded slowly, "Don't think I want to, actually. I'm sick of the mud and the blood and the fucking zombies."

"I don' wanna die, though," Ellis said. "I'd rather be fightin' mah way through them, than be shot in mah sleep or somethin'."

Coach clapped him on the back.

"Well said kid. Well said."

"We all ready?" Nick asked, and the group nodded their approval.

"Formation!" Coach said, before laughing to himself, and Nick rolled his eyes and opened the door to the yard.

Luckily for them there weren't too many officials around - CEDA believing that they were completely secure. Only a group of three people remained outside, but they had to be standing right beside the bit of fence they wanted to climb over.

"Aw, hell. What're we gonna do?" Ellis said, and Nick laughed.

"We've took on hordes of hundreds at a time. Three unarmed people are nothing."

He casually walked over to the group, and the rest followed. A woman looked up and saw them, and frowned.

"What do you think you're doing out here?"  
>Nick shrugged, "Admiring the weather?"<p>

The woman looked at the jacket he was wearing, "Where the hell did you get that?"  
>"It's mine…"<br>"It should have been confiscated."

Coach came up behind Nick, "It was, darlin'."

The woman's brow wrinkled in confusion as the other two of her party joined her.

"What's going on here?" A weedy looking man with glasses asked.

"Well, we were hoping to climb over this fence," Rochelle said, shielding her hand against the sun as she looked up at it.

"Excuse me?"

"You can't do that!" The woman said; her gaze falling on the wristbands and a look of understanding began to cross her face.

"Look, we're mighty grateful fer your hospitality, ma'am, an' we really would like t'stay bu' we don' really agree wit' what yer doin' ou'here and frankly," Ellis sighed, pointing beyond the fence. "There's definitely more threats ou' there for y'all t'kill than in here. All them people you killed. They weren't zombies, they were still people. I don' wanna end up like tha'. I'd rather take mah chances in the real world."

She shook her head, "That's suicide."  
>"Staying is suicide," Rochelle said. "And we've survived out there longer than we would in here."<p>

The woman paused as she tried to gather a response.

"We can't let you leave," the man said in her absence, and Nick growled.

"I have come too far to die now. To die here. I have spent _weeks _fighting my way through rivers, and swamps, and burning hotels, and shitty little villages and… and…"

He turned to the others for help.

"Kiddyland?"  
>"And Kiddyland!"<br>Rochelle and Coach winced, and Nick turned to glare at Ellis.

"Fucking Kiddyland?"  
>Ellis shrugged, "Well we fought a hell of a lotta zombies down there. And them clowns were worse than normal zombies after all coz they went an' attracted all them other zombies. An' I don' really like clowns a'the best o'times, but zombie clowns… Man they were creepy." He shuddered a bit to accentuate his point.<p>

"I sounded all dangerous 'til you said that! You ruined the moment!"  
>"Oh c'mon! We <em>did <em>go through there! You'd covered pretty much everythin' else! An' you didn' _have_ to repeat it. It was just an idea!"  
>"That's not the point - !"<p>

"Where'd the other one go?" Rochelle said, cutting into the bickering and scanning the area.

Nick turned back to the couple stood in front of the fence, and sensed a need to start hurrying the hell up.

"Are you letting us go then?"

The man shook his head and Nick sighed, "Ellis."  
>Ellis pulled a vile out of his pocket, and flexed his arm so that the newly formed bruise was visible.<p>

"What…?"  
>"This is a combination of all our bloods. We know that you's ain't immune t'the virus, and that we have the virus in our systems. I don' really wanna trip and tip it down your throats, or accidentally cut yous wit' the newly broken glass or somethin', but we might have ta if y'don' move aside."<p>

The woman and man exchanged a look, but still didn't move. Ellis swung his axe.

"Or I could just get ya with this. I mean, I dunno the exac' amount o'zombies I've killed wit' this axe but it's pro'lly a lot. I always kinda wanted to be an axe murderer, y'know. If I were t'be any kinda murderer anyway, which I ain't. Ma raised me better than that. I mean, I'm guessin' it ain't murder when it's zombies anyways. But you, on the other hand would be. An' frankly, I don' think I'm a nasty guy or nothin' but I'd not be sorry. I mean, how many people have y'all killed after all? Plus you were gonna kill us. I'd say if anythin' that it were self defense. Not that there's any courts left t'try me or nothin'..."

The woman muttered something to the man, and Nick raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"  
>She looked straight at Ellis, "You're mad."<p>

Nick laughed, "Maybe that's what being in zombieland does to you. Ah, you have no idea… But I'm kind of getting bored now. Ellis, just fucking kill them already."

"Yessir."

Ellis smirked and swung the axe slightly more violently in their direction, causing them to jump out of its way.

"Oh, moving after all are we?" Nick said. "Thought you might."

They darted through the gap and Coach helped Rochelle up on to the first rungs, following suit himself.

"Aw, thank ya kindly! Ah wish y'all the best now!" Ellis shouted as he and Nick followed the other two.

An alarm sounded when they reached the top, but it was already too late. Nick laughed as he and Ellis jumped down beside Coach and Rochelle – their feet hitting mud instead of concrete. Nick yelped slightly as the thin soles of his trainers hit a stone he'd dropped himself on. Gunfire sounded around them, but not close enough to hit them in the relative cover of the bushes.

"Aw, well that just ain't kind of y'all, is it?" Ellis shouted, and Rochelle tried to shush him.

He picked the vile of blood out from his pocket and threw it over the fence, causing some screams and the gunfire to stop.

"Come on," Nick said, pulling a laughing Ellis away with Rochelle and Coach at their heels. "Back into the shit again."

Ellis laughed, "But we're still alive. An' it's only about ten miles to the safest saferoom. Away from them." He pointed over his shoulder.

Rochelle groaned, "I thought I was done with the walking! I had a pedicure and everything."

Coach laughed, "Ah, it'll do ya good, girl. At least we're still together."

"What we gonna do now?" Ellis asked, and Nick shrugged,

"I have no idea. Carry on with the killing of, ah, 'son's o'bitches' I guess."

"Maybe find a truck?" Rochelle said, hopefully.

"Somewhere to live…" Coach added.

"Yeah! Like a farm or somethin'! Fortify it, get our own food an' shit! Like chickens an' that! …If the chickens are still alive o'course."

"Eternity with you three in a farmhouse. I am living the dream."  
>"Ah, you love it really, Nick," Rochelle said with a smile, and he didn't contradict her.<p>

"Hey, y'know I remember this one time mah buddy Keith didn' know what a pedicure was an' booked himself one b'coz he thought it might be cool and involve girls touchin' him places. When he got there…"

Ellis paused, and looked around at everyone in turn, completely confused.

"Hey, uh, ain't anyone gonna stop me?"

Rochelle giggled, and soon Nick and Coach had joined in.

Ellis grinned.

"Hey man, I could definitely get used t'this… anyway, like I was sayin' when he got there…"

"Oh, God. I change my mind! I can't take any more of Keith!" Nick said, putting his hands up in mock surrender, and Ellis pouted.

"Naw, that were a really good story n'all."

"I'm sorry, I just can't!"  
>"Pfft!"<p>

"Boys!" Rochelle said; her hands on her hips.

Nick and Ellis stopped bickering, but when her back was turned Nick shoved Ellis, causing him to stumble and mutter, "Aw, it's on, man," before pushing him back. A shoving competition commenced, and, as they walked through the tiny space of non-infested territory away from the CEDA centre, they were properly happy for the first time in quite a while.


End file.
